Thank you all so much for your responses! They've been very useful in helping me craft this story. You'll probably see your suggestions scattered throughout. I appreciate it! The next chapter will be much longer, I promise.


"Bring me Lord Stefan."

Both Ben and Audrey froze, and then one of them continued more diplomatically than the other.

"For what reason?"

"You would not dare harm my grandfather!"

The fairy chose to ignore Audrey completely. "My reasons are my own. Those are my terms. If you deliver Stefan, I will allow you to go free."

The prince hesitated. He wasn't so naive to think that this woman had good intentions behind her desire to see Stefan, but perhaps Ben could prepare him for what was to come - not that he knew exactly what was to come. What would he say? "There is a fairy-dragon who seeks to harm you"? Knowing Stefan, the old man would choose to fight back, but at an extreme disadvantage. On her own turf, within this cave, no army could defeat her as a dragon. The Thermopylae-esque narrowness meant that even a legion of soldiers would be unhelpful. The steepness of the entrance precluded any stealth or retreat. Besides, Ben had never met a fairy - what other sorcery was she capable of? What traps, magical or otherwise, had already been laid in this place? She wanted Stefan to come to her. She must have ensured this fortress would not fall.

He had to secure Audrey's safety first, though. "By 'you', I assume you mean myself and the lady both."

She shook her head. "No. Just you. She stays. If you do not follow through, she dies. If you warn him, she dies. If you bring anyone else with him, she dies."

Audrey screeched at the injustice and cruelty of the woman before them, and Ben's heart skipped a beat. Why, oh why had he come alone? "And if I refuse?" he asked quietly, hiding his guilt when his fiancee quieted abruptly and stared at him with wide eyes. The woman smirked - a strangely alluring sight.

"It is no matter. He will come sooner or later to fetch her, and I am nothing if not patient. In the meantime, you will remain here, where you can warn no one."

The decision was rather easy. "I will have no part of this. Take me prisoner if you must."

She sighed, turning away. "Very well. You can try to escape, if you like, but you will find it extraordinarily difficult. The way you came in is the only way out, and exiting requires the ability to fly. Jay!" There were several cavities, like the one in which Audrey was jailed, running down the length of the cavern. A long-haired, muscular man appeared from one of the closer ones, his eyebrows raised in question. "This is Prince Benjamin Florian of Auradon." Her tone was unnecessarily sarcastic. "He will be staying with us for some time. Find a place for him." The woman walked away, heading for the farthest reaches of the cave without a second look back - or she would have seen Ben's inability to take his eyes off of her.

The man named Jay checked Ben over, and then called, "It's safe!" Two more people, a woman and a man slightly younger than Ben, emerged from the same nook. This second man had a shock of white hair, and Ben recognized him as the driver of the carriage from the description given by Audrey's maid.

"Are you all prisoners as well?" inquired Ben, knowing at least one of them probably was not.

Audrey scowled. "They are her lackeys. Servants."

This seemed to incense the woman in particular, but her expression quickly settled into a dangerous smile. "You should be careful with your words, dear. Mal may want you alive, but that hardly means you need to be in one piece."

Audrey backed away from the bars, but Ben stepped in front of her cell. "Madame, I must ask you to refrain from threatening the Lady Audrey. Anyone who wishes to harm her may only do so after dispatching me."

The glittering eyes of the dark-haired woman turned on him. "Madame? How polite. It will be a nice change to have a man of class here." The two men exchanged exasperated looks, but she didn't notice and approached Ben. Her hips swayed so much more than the average person's that even Ben noticed. She was rather pretty, which he would have realized right away had he not just been in the presence of beauty incarnate. "Lady Evie will do." She held out her hand to him.

"You are no lady!" hissed Audrey, pressed up against the wooden poles again. "You are a harlot!"

Jay was at the cell in a split second, hoisting one of the bars so it came loose from its socket and throwing it aside. Audrey shrieked as he stepped inside her cell, eyes burning with menace.

"Stop!" cried Ben, ignoring Evie's hand and slipping inside the cell as well. "Wait! Please!"

"Jay," called Evie, "leave her. It is jealousy that causes her to speak this way, which I find rather flattering."

Jay stopped advancing, much to Ben's relief. Audrey cowered against the wall of the cave.

"And I assure you, I am a lady. My mother was royalty."

This seemed more for Ben's benefit than Audrey's, but the Auradonian woman was already opening her mouth to argue. Ben threw her a pleading glance. "Consider our situation before you speak, Audrey," he interjected before another rude comment manifested. "You will gain nothing by insulting our captors."

"Well. It seems at least one of you nobles has a trace amount of sense," muttered Jay. He walked out of the cell and motioned to Ben. "Come. There are extra rooms you may choose from. Hardly the luxury you are used to, but they suffice."

Ben followed and beckoned for Audrey, but she resolutely shook her head. "I will not live amongst these criminals."

"Audrey - "

"She has been saying that since she arrived." The last of the 'lackeys,' the young man, finally spoke up. "This cell was originally for chickens, to keep them from running about, but it appeals to the lady's sense of victimhood."

Jay snorted. Ben looked at Audrey incredulously. The cell did indeed have a few feathers strewn about, and was otherwise bare except for a waste bucket in the corner. "Surely you are not serious."

"I will not have my rescuers come only to see me fraternizing with these heathens!" Audrey declared heatedly.

Ben resisted the urge to use the word 'stupidity.' "Audrey, you are only prolonging your discomfort. They are offering - "

"I am a Lady of Auradon," she interrupted, "and I am a prisoner here, not a guest. I will not be lulled into a false sense of security. You would best do the same, Prince Benjamin."

Jay glanced at Ben with amusement. "It appears your wife would like you to stay with her."

The prince reddened. "She is not yet my wife...and that would be improper." Too embarrassed to look Audrey in the eye, he told her, "I intend to find out what the dragon wants with Lord Stefan. Stay here if you must, but that does not appear to me to be the most useful course of action." Her horrified expression demonstrated how unexpected his decision was. Ben focused on the younger man. "I do not yet know your name."

"Carlos," he answered cheerfully. "That is Jay, and you have met Evie, and the terrifying one is Mal. Welcome to our home, or dungeon, whichever pleases you. Shall we take you to your magnificently furnished lodgings?"

"Ah...yes." He met Audrey's gaze only to find that she was attempting to bore holes in his head with her glare. "I will return when I know more." Then he followed Carlos and the others down the cave, peering inside each recess as they passed.

Jay's 'room' was covered in rugs - intricate ones, with patterns not generally found in Auradon. Carlos's contained a variety of half-finished contraptions. Evie had been graced with one of Jay's unique carpets, but otherwise her room looked rather like a seamstress's shop. Her current dress appeared professionally made - a deep blue fabric adorned with silver embroidery around the waist - but the other in-progress gowns in the room were of an equal quality. Mal's room was at the far end of the cavern, so they never came upon it.

A bare hollow awaited Ben, containing only a simple, low bed. "Unfortunately, this will have to do, Your Majesty," sighed Evie. "But you are not the target of Mal's revenge. If you need anything, please ask."

"Revenge?" Ben asked, intrigued. The two men scowled at Evie, who shrugged. "Has Stefan wronged her?"

"It hardly matters," Evie pointed out to her comrades. "Who will he tell?"

"Mal will not like it," Jay countered bluntly. To Ben, he said, "If you must know, ask Mal herself."

"Very well. And you? Do you seek revenge against Stefan as well? Are you also fairies?"

Carlos laughed. "This one is curious. Your friend could not care less."

"You did abduct her in a forest," Ben reminded him. "With a dragon." Carlos smiled sheepishly.

"We are none of us fairies, nor do we have anything to do with Stefan. We are indebted to Mal. We fight with her until the end," replied Jay. "Now before we tell you any more, we must confer with Mal to determine what she does not want revealed." This was said quite pointedly. Evie huffed. "Make yourself comfortable. One of us will return with supper."

As they left, Ben noted, "You have not confiscated my sword."

Jay looked back, smirking. "Because even with it, you are not a threat to any of us."


True to their word, the other two sent Evie to his room with food after about an hour. Ben hadn't gone back to see Audrey, though he was free to move about the complex. Her decision was understandable, but he could not find it in himself to act the same, and the inevitability of her anger kept him away. Carlos was right: Ben's curiosity currently overpowered any other emotion. For what did Mal seek revenge on Stefan? Why, as a prisoner, was Ben being treated with relative kindness? Who were these other people, and why were they indebted to Mal? Why was an armored Prince of Auradon not seen as a threat? How long had they been living here? Where had the chickens gone?

When Evie returned, she was more than happy to converse with him now that she had received definitive guidelines on what she could talk about. She handed him a portion of what tasted like veal, possibly hunted and roasted by the dragon, and leaned against the wall. Ben got up to offer her a seat on the bed, but she declined.

"You truly are a prince. So chivalrous," she complimented. "As you can see, I live with buffoons. Well-meaning buffoons, but buffoons all the same." Her fond tone softened her harsh words.

"Jay appears to be protective of you," observed Ben.

"Yes, he is. We have known each other for some time. Mal met Jay first, and me soon thereafter. Carlos is the latest addition to our small circle."

The prince finished chewing before speaking again. "How did you come to meet Mal? If I may ask."

"You may." Evie smiled sadly. "I was very young, not yet sixteen, and close to death due to...my past. Mal found me wandering, half-mad. She was in hiding at the time - my apologies, I cannot tell you why - but she took me in and saved my life. She could not save...well, she saved my life. She and Jay both."

There was almost definitely far more to that story, but the Lady Evie had become subdued and Ben had not the heart to press her. "I see. So as Jay said, you are in her debt."

"Yes. And there is no one on this Earth with whom I would rather have my loyalties lie." There was a hint of pride with that statement. What an interesting creature Mal was, Ben thought, having convinced three people to become cave-dwellers for her of their own volition, without complaint.

"I wish to speak with her about Stefan. Will she see me?" Ben questioned.

Evie bit her lip. "I advise you not to disturb her. She comes out of her quarters occasionally. That would be the best time to approach her." Changing her demeanor suddenly, she beamed at him. "Feel free to approach me at any time, however. I have not spoken to a real gentleman in years."


That night, as he slept, he dreamed. Ben had never been a vivid dreamer, and at first, all he could see was black. Then she appeared.

Mal stood a few feet away from him. Her curly purple locks fluttered in a wind he couldn't feel. Those vibrant green eyes glowed with passion, with a thirst for vengeance that starkly contrasted the impassivity of the rest of her face. She was an enigma he longed to decipher - but then she was gone.

He would never forget her face.